Dear friends and colleagues –
Heeding the voices of Remote Australia
 |
| Roslyn Raberabera (community researcher) with James Malbunka, Kelvin Raggett, Hector Ratara and Lawrence Inkamala at Ntaria, NT. |
I’m delighted to report that Ninti One has now trained more than 30 keen Aboriginal researchers, who have been hard at work in our Community Research Program.
So far they have mainly been engaged in carrying out field research relating to service delivery in three remote communities – Ntaria, Amata and Mimili – with Yuendumu to follow. This is critical work for understanding how well key services are delivered in remote communities, possible flaws and obstacles, and the experience of the community as a whole. It is helping to provide government at all levels with a clearer insight into what really happens on the ground, and how services can be enhanced.
The topics investigated include safe driving, care of the elderly, the benefits and risks of bush medicine and the role of art and cultural knowledge in economic participation by remote communities.
This approach has so far revealed a high level of interest in, commitment to and capacity for research in each location, says project technical advisor Steve Fisher. “It demonstrates without a doubt that high-quality research can be conducted by community-based researchers and produce findings of relevance to the development and implementation of policy, even at a high level. It means that government services can be better matched to the priorities, needs and wishes of remote Australians.
“It means the voices of remote Australians are better heard – and heeded.
“Genuine research capacity has now been developed in each location. The community researchers are keen to use their skills and knowledge in new projects, and a new model for community research is emerging that is being tested in four different communities,” he adds. The project has been carried out in close cooperation with Commonwealth, State and local organisations.
By acquiring the information on which our understanding of the remote Australian experience rests, these researchers – young and more senior – are going to make a real difference not only to their own communities, but also to the lives and prospects of many who inhabit the far-flung parts of this continent. In this case they will help ensure a better standard of service delivery across remote Australia.
At the same time they are gaining new skills and opening up for themselves new career opportunities based on the experience of working in research.
More information: Steve Fisher: steve.fisher@nintione.com.au or ph +61 (0)3 9005 6124
Meg Wheatley returns!
 |
We are delighted that Meg Wheatley, one of the world’s leading thinkers about how we reshape our communities for the future, will be re-visiting Australia and Alice Springs to work with Ninti One Partners, Staff and Board at the beginning of September. Meg received an enthusiastic reception on her previous visit to central Australia in November 2008, when she spoke at the Desert Knowledge Symposium.
Over four days, Meg will cover topics about maintaining focus in the midst of uncertainty, using our strengths and knowledge about where we come from to carry us in to the future, and making sure our work is effective for the people who it intends to benefit.
Meg says of herself: “For many years, I’ve been interested in seeing the world differently. I’ve wanted to see beyond the Western, mechanical view of the world and see what else might appear when the lens was changed. I’ve learned that problems that are impossible to solve with one paradigm may be easily solved with a different one.
“I’ve been applying the lens of living systems theory to organizations and communities. With wonderful colleagues, I’ve been exploring the question: ‘How might we organize differently if we understood how Life organizes?’ It’s been an exploration that has helped me look into old patterns and problems and develop new and hopeful insights and practices. It has also increased my sense of wonder for life, and for the great capacity of the human spirit.”
Remote Australia calling ...
 |
| UHF repeater tower at Warakurna, WA |
... but who is listening? Not enough people, according to Ninti One’s submission to the Parliamentary Select Committee’s inquiry into the National Broadband Network. In it, we told them the following:
Remote Australia, including 108,000 Aboriginal people, will miss out on fast Broadband. At best, communities will get 12MGB bandwidth download, not enough for video and multimedia. This will adversely affect delivery of e-health, education and business/employment opportunities.
Remote Australia is still extremely disadvantaged in basic telephony, with poor to non-existent mobile coverage outside growth towns. This restricts both job and business development.
Remote Australian household incomes average $296 a week. How can they afford internet connections at the expected prices? The obvious answer is a Wi-Fi network for every community, maybe a Wi-Fi grid, with better pricing and billing solutions.
Only 1 in 10 remote kids have internet access. If we can’t provide modern information and communications technology, how can we reduce the disadvantage of remote Australians and Aboriginal communities?
We need an urgent look at alternative communications technology for the bush, like the SAND system developed by Ninti One, or other suitable technologies.
Our key recommendations to the inquiry were:
● explore alternative technologies to provide ICT solutions for remote settlements
● commission report on cost-effective communications for remote Australia
● government assistance for shared community Wi-Fi networks with community-level account holders and better billing options
● more funding for ICT training in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
ESA Indigenous Travel Grant
The Ecological Society of Australia (ESA) is offering eligible applicants funds to support the sharing of knowledge and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in their symposium, “Indigenous Australia: culture and conservation” at the annual ESA conference in Hobart, Tasmania, 21–25 November 2011.
The funding will cover or partially cover travel, accommodation and conference registration. It also offers the opportunity to join the post-conference field trip “Indigenous culture and conservation: A Tasmanian perspective”. In partnership with the Six Rivers Aboriginal Corporation (SRAC) and sponsored by Cradle Coast NRM, a field trip focusing on Aboriginal culture and conservation will take place in north-western Tasmania on November 25–26 2011. Highlights of the trip include visits to Panatana (a 550 ha site managed by SRAC), Narawntapu National Park and Tiagarra Aboriginal Culture Centre and Museum. The costs of participation in the field trip will be covered for recipients of the travel grant.
ESA is looking for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Australians who would like to share their knowledge and the work they have been doing to protect country and culture. More information: http://ecolsoc.org.au/IndigenousTravelAward2011.htm.
Profile: Ruth Brown, Manager Corporate Services
 |
As its first staff member to be employed, Ruth is among of Ninti One’s most experienced and dedicated hands, joining at the original start-up of DKCRC. She’s Gympie-born, matriculated from Brisbane State High School and then completed her Advanced Business course at Qld TAFE. She then had a string of interesting jobs among which “the standouts were 3 years at Radio 4CA in Cairns – that was fun; managed an office for a firm of structural and civil engineers in Cairns during the period when the city was really surging ahead – that was exhilarating. I spent four years on Magnetic Island as front office manager at a resort and maitre’d in the silver service restaurant at night. That led to a stint in hospitality – and is what brought me to Alice Springs.”
There she ‘married a local’ (Matt) and has been a resident of The Alice for 24 years, but adds, somewhat wistfully, “You can take the girl out of Queensland but you can’t take Queensland out of the girl.”
Her first job at Ninti One was as office manager, a role that has since evolved into Manager Corporate Services. “I’ve had opportunities to expand my career that I may not have received in another organisation. A reward for loyalty and hard work,” she says. “I do love the work I do, and love being the first in, opening up and getting started early. But what I love best is the coffee Andy Bubb makes me every morning. That really starts my day.”
Her taste in movies and book extends to the epic: “I do love a movie that goes for a few hours and a book that is a bit of a saga – lots of pages and small print keeps me interested.”
Ruth is planning her ideal break next month: “Matt, myself, and 10 friends we haven’t seen for a long time, and a resort in Port Douglas where you walk out of the unit straight into the pool. Walks on 4-mile beach. A sunset cocktail party on our own private yacht. Lots of long leisurely lunches, and great dinner parties. Six days of this … can hardly wait.”
Her worst habit? “Andy Bubb (my work ‘roomie’) says I sigh too much – some days he counts. (By the way, he yawns.)” Ruth also harbours a secret ambition to reform the wine industry: “My pet hate is 750ml bottles of wine. How often do you share a bottle, get to the end and say, ‘I wish we could have one more glass’.”
Her long-term dream revolves around a rural block they own north of Gympie, with lots of family and friends visiting regularly. Plus, of course, extended time in Italy, particularly Tuscany and the Cinque Terra. “Live the dream!!” she urges us all.
Gathering of the minds
 |
Twenty-three researchers and research leaders gathered from across the continent to attend our Research Induction Workshop, which was held from 21–24 July in Alice Springs. This was a wonderful and inspiring get-together, which left us all with a clear sense that the real work of CRC-REP is now up and running.
Wendy Cowan, our hard-working Education Coordination and Development Officer, says it was clear that many researchers, who had up to now been working in near-isolation in our far-flung enterprise, were delighted to find themselves part of such a keen and dedicated team. The mood was “upbeat, enthusiastic and immediately into problem-solving,” she says.
Some of our research projects are still in the establishment phase, while others have been running for several months now: all were able to share ideas and learn from one another – an approach that always beats sitting and listening to a row of speakers. The focus was on how we can work together effectively across the different programs and projects, despite the huge physical distances that separate us. Wendy says the event has proved so successful she is planning more face-to-face get togethers.
The first of these will be the CRC-REP Student Annual Forum, which is scheduled for February 2012. Watch this space for details.
From Fiona afar …
Professor Fiona McKenzie, Research Leader of our CRC-REP project Enduring Community Value from Mining, has attended several international conferences and meetings in Europe and Canada in June and July.
She says that the June Sustainable Developments in the Minerals Industry meeting in Aachen Germany was very well organised and targeted a relatively small but interesting audience which included:
• Researchers and politicians from large and influential agencies such as EU, European Commission, European Parliament, the OECD and the UN
• Heads of agencies in the German and Swedish government
• Representatives from government in China
• Researchers and post-docs from a variety of academic organisations, including a quite a good representation from CSIRO.
Fiona says, “This conference was really useful for me – it gave me a good insight to where the Europeans see the future of mining, their perceived strengths and vulnerabilities. It was also interesting to watch the Chinese delegates – very aggressive in their desire for economic and technical knowledge but they displayed very limited interest or knowledge of the social nuances of community and regional development.”
The meeting offered the opportunity for delegates to take an all-day site visit to the Aachen RWE Power coal mine, which Fiona thoroughly enjoyed. It is one of the largest coal mines in the Europe Union, with a project mine life of 2030. This coal mine is also one of the largest farmers in Germany, as it rehabilitates land back to farm land after it has been mined for coal. Seven towns have been moved by the company and two rivers ‘reconfigured’. Fiona describes the rehabilitation process as “really fascinating … this company has been ‘mine and community lifecycle’ planning for the last 20 years. An almost ‘unreal’ reality for me was the two full-time bomb disposal experts who regularly deploy mostly World War II bombs. In 2010, when ‘moving’ a street to make way for coal mining, an American soldier from World War II was dug up in a front garden.”
These images show the rehabilitation process:
 |  |
| From this ... | To this ... |
Profile: Slade Lee, Principal Research Leader, Plant Business
 |
Slade at Max and Ruth Emery's bush tomato farm, |
After working as a teacher of disabled children, re-training in horticultural science, then doing environmental science for a mining company, Slade discovered his heart lay in research. He spent 15 years with the Queensland Department of Primary Industries working as a citrus plant breeder before joining Southern Cross University as program leader and then Queensland University of Technology, where he worked in a global plant biotechnology program developing nutritionally enhanced varieties to combat hunger in central Africa, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
AT CRC-REP, he says “I’ll be helping deliver culturally appropriate approaches to developing resources and commercialisation opportunities for traditionally used plant species. Fundamental to this will be finding ways to protect the intellectual property of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities associated with their traditional knowledge of plants. The project will also develop better horticultural varieties.”
Slade says the best thing about the job is “working with people who are committed to making a real difference to the lives of others who really deserve it”.
He nominates as his favourite movie the classic, Lord of the Rings and in his reading time is engrossed in The Ultimate Encyclopaedia of Mythology, pursuing an interest in ancient history and anthropology. He dreams of a holiday “exploring old buildings and ruins in Europe.”
Slade nominates as his pet hates (1) disorganisation, (2) people who think about themselves, not others and (3) bad coffee. His current goal? “Getting organised enough to have time for good coffee with considerate people.”
His biggest hero: “My Mum – except she votes for the wrong party!”
Camels eyed from the sky
 |
Damage to airstrip at Punmu community, Pilbara, |
Outback pilots are the latest recruits to join a nationwide campaign to manage feral camels. Using ‘CamelScan’ they will become an important ‘eye in the sky’ for spotting camels roaming inland Australia and causing damage.
Australian Feral Camel Management Project manager, Quentin Hart, says “With more than a million feral camels spread across 3 million square kilometres, and an annual damage bill exceeding $10 million, community support is vital in monitoring feral camel numbers and the damage they inflict. Feral camels pose a significant transport hazard, leading to increased danger of collisions with vehicles and aircraft on landing strips. In 2008, two people died when their vehicle struck a camel near Alice Springs and as recently as late July 2011, a person was seriously injured in a vehicle collision with a mob of camels near Uluru.”
 |
Damaged landing light on Punmu Community |
CamelScan is a free Google mapping tool set up by the Australian Feral Camel Management Project. It is available at www.feralscan.org.au/camelscan for anyone to report sightings of feral camels in their area or observed while travelling or flying.
CamelScan was developed by the Invasive Animals CRC, NSW Department of Primary Industries and Ninti One Limited (manager of the Australian Feral Camel Management Project), and is part of the FeralScan program that is being rolled out across the country.
The Australian Feral Camel Management Project is supported under the Australian Government Caring for our Country initiative and addresses the urgent need to significantly reduce feral camel densities, to lessen their impacts in remote Australia.
More information: CamelScan www.feralscan.org.au/camelscan
Australian Feral Camel Management Project www.feralcamels.com.au
New publications
Fisher S. 2011. A development approach to remote services in Australia. DKCRC Working Paper 78. Ninti One Limited. Alice Springs.
Fisher S and Rola-Rubzen MF. 2011. More than a drop in the ocean: How can good examples of remote services be replicated? DKCRC Working Paper 79. Ninti One Limited. Alice Springs.
McFallan S, Stanley O and Fisher S. 2011. Modelling the complex system of service provision: the housing/health interface. DKCRC Working Paper 80. Ninti One Limited, Alice Springs.
Remote diary
August 12, 2011 - August 14, 2011
August 15, 2011 - August 21, 2011
August 20, 2011 - August 21, 2011
September 9, 2011 - September 18, 2011
Western Australian Indigenous Tourism Operators Conference
September 20, 2011 - September 23, 2011
Rural Futures Matter Summit 2011 at Flinders University
September 21, 2011 - September 23, 2011
September 29, 2011 - September 30, 2011
Indigenous Economic Development Forum
October 13, 2011 - October 14, 2011
NT Research and Innovation Awards Dinner
October 14, 2011
November 7, 2011 - November 10, 2011
The 5th Annual Indigenous Career Development and Mentoring Conference 2011
November 15, 2011 - November 16, 2011
International Rural Network World Forum
September 24, 2012 - September 28, 2012
With best wishes,
Jan Ferguson
Managing Director,
Ninti One Ltd and CRC-REP
